From SPIDriver To I2CDriver

December 9, 2018 by Bryan Cockfield 30 Comments

Communicating with microcontrollers and other embedded systems requires a communications standard. SPI is a great one, and is commonly used, but it’s not the only one available. There’s also I2C which has some advantages and disadvantages compared to SPI. The problem with both standards, however, is that modern computers don’t come with either built-in. To solve that problem and allow easier access to debugging in SPI, [James Bowman] built the SPIDriver a few months ago, and is now back by popular demand with a similar device for I2C, the I2CDriver.

Much like the SPIDriver, the I2C driver is a debugging tool that can be used at your computer with a USB interface. Working with I2C is often a hassle, with many things going on all at once that need to sync up just right in order to work at all, and this device allows the user to set up I2C devices in a fraction of the time. To start, it has a screen built in that shows information about the current device, like the signal lines and a graphical decoding of the current traffic. It also shows an address space map, and has programmable pullup resistors built in, and can send data about the I2C traffic back to its host PC for analysis.

The I2CDriver is also completely open source, from the hardware to the software, meaning you could build one from scratch if you have the will and the parts, or make changes to the code on your own to suit your specific needs. If you’re stuck using SPI still, though, you can still find the original SPIDriver tool to help you with your debugging needs with that protocol as well.

Pocket High Voltage Generator Becomes Great Test Tool

October 8, 2018 by Donald Papp 4 Comments

[The LED Artist] often found a need for a relatively high voltage (100 to 200 Volt) but low current DC power supply, and it turns out that a small HV generator that uses a single AA cell only took about an hour to make. The device ended up being a pretty handy tool for testing things like LED filaments (which have a forward voltage of over 60 V), or even neon and nixie tubes.

The device’s low current means that nixie and neon elements won’t light up very brightly, but they will light up enough to verify function and operation. [The LED Artist] reports that touching the output terminals of the generator only causes a slight tingling sensation.

Open-circuit voltage generated from a single AA cell is about 200 V, but that voltage drops rapidly under any kind of load. Even regular LEDs can be safely lit with the circuit, with less than a milliamp being supplied at the two to three volts at which most regular LEDs operate.

[The LED Artist] fit the device into a two-AA battery holder, with a single AA cell on one side and the circuit in the other, and says it’s one of the more useful tools they’ve ever made. LED filaments are fairly common nowadays, but if they intrigue you, don’t forget that [Mike Harrison] covered everything you need to know about experimenting with them.

Damaged Power Cord Repaired With Shop-Made Mold

September 13, 2018 by Dan Maloney 25 Comments

We’ve likely all seen a power tool with a less-than-functional strain relief at one end of the power cord or the other. Fixing the plug end is easy, but at the tool end things are a little harder and often not worth the effort compared to the price of just replacing the tool. There’s no obsolescence like built-in obsolescence.

But in the land of Festo, that high-quality but exorbitantly priced brand of premium tools, the normal cost-benefit relationship of repairs is skewed. That’s what led [Mark Presling] to custom mold a new strain relief for a broken Festool cord. The dodgy tool is an orbital sander with Festool’s interchangeable “Plug It” type power cord, which could have been replaced for the princely sum of $65. Rather than suffer that disgrace, [Mark] built a mold for a new strain relief from two pieces of aluminum. The mold fits around the cord once it has been slathered with Sugru, a moldable adhesive compound. The video below shows the mold build, which has some interesting tips for the lathe, and the molding process itself. The Sugru was a little touchy about curing, but in the end the new strain relief looks almost like an original part.

Hats off to [Presser] for not taking the easy way out, and for showing off some techniques that could really help around the shop. We suppose the mold could have been 3D-printed rather than machined; after all, we’ve seen such molds before, and that 3D-printed dies can be robust enough to punch metal parts.

Continue reading “Damaged Power Cord Repaired With Shop-Made Mold” →

3D Printed Radius Gauge, Just Add Calipers (And A Wee Bit Of Math)

September 9, 2018 by Donald Papp 16 Comments

With 3D printed arms of fixed measurements, the depth reading from a set of digital calipers can be used to calculate the radius of a curve.

Specialized tools that focus on one particular job tend to get distilled right down to their essentials and turned in an economical consumer product. One example of this is radius (or fillet) gauges: a set of curves in different sizes that one uses to measure the radius of a curved surface by trial and error. To some, such products represent solved problems. Others see opportunities for a fresh perspective, like this caliper-enabled 3D printed radius gauge by [Arne Bergkvist].

[Arne]’s 3D printed radius gauge is a simple object; a rigid attachment for a nearly ubiquitous model of digital caliper. By placing the curve to be measured between the two arms of the device and using the depth measurement of the caliper to measure distance to the curve’s surface, a simple calculation (helpfully printed on the unit itself) of radius = distance * 2.414 reveals the radius of the curve. However, this shortened calculation makes a number of assumptions and only works for [Arne]’s specific design.

Another version by [Fredrik Welander] represents a more flexible take on the same concept. His RadGauge design (pictured up top) has a few different sizes to accommodate a variety of objects, and his Git repository provides a calculator tool as well as some tips on fine tuning to allow for variations in the dimensions of the printed attachment.

3D printing has opened a lot of doors, and items like this show that the plastic doodads created aren’t always the end result in and of themselves; sometimes they are the glue that enables a tool or part to work in a different way. To help get the most out of 3D printing, check out the in-depth coverage of how to best tap 3D printed parts for fasteners, and [Roger Cheng]’s guide to using 3D printed brackets and aluminum extrusion to make just about anything.

Specialized Knife Sharpener From Old Airplane

August 1, 2018 by Bryan Cockfield 5 Comments

“Surely sharpening a knife can’t be that hard” one might think, as they destroy the edge on their pocket knife by flailing it wildly against a whetstone of indeterminate grain. In reality, knife sharpening is as nuanced a practice as virtually any other field, and getting a quality finish is much harder than it seems. It also gets increasingly complex with different blades, as [Turbo Conquering Mega Eagle] shows with is customized knife sharpening jig.

The hardest part in any blade sharpening is getting the proper bevel angle. A heavy angle is good for heavy-duty tools like axes, but for fine work like shaving a more sharp angle is required. Usually, a table-mounted jig is required but due to production constraints, a handheld one was used. It’s made with push rods and a cam follower from an airplane engine (parts are plentiful since this particular engine breaks all the time) and can impart very specific bevel angles on blades. For example, machetes have a heavy angle near the handle but a finer point towards the tip, and this tool helps streamline sharpening many knives quickly.

If you want to try your hand at another project that’s not as straightforward as it might seem, you might want to build a knife from scratch before you make an attempt at a sharpening tool. It’s just as nuanced a process, but with a little practice can be done with only a few tools.

Continue reading “Specialized Knife Sharpener From Old Airplane” →

Beats An Extension Cord

June 22, 2018 by Brian McEvoy 18 Comments

What does your benchtop power supply have that [Pete Marchetto]’s does not? Answer: an extension cord draped across the floor. How often have you said to yourself, “I just need to energize this doodad for a couple seconds,” then you start daisy chaining every battery in the junk drawer to reach the necessary voltage? It is not uncommon to see battery packs with a single voltage output, but [Pete] could not find an adjustable one, so he built his own and put it on Tindie.

Presumably, the internals are not going to surprise anyone: an 18650 battery, charging circuit, a voltage converter, display, adjustment knob, and a dedicated USB charging port. The complexity is not what intrigues us, it is the fact that we do not see more of them and still wind up taping nine-volt batteries together. [Editor’s note: we use one made from an old laptop battery.]

This should not replace your benchtop power supply, it does not have the bells and whistles, like current regulation, but a mobile source of arbitrary voltage does most of the job most of the time. And it’s what this build hasn’t got (a cord) that makes it most useful.

Universal Quick-Release Bar Clamps

April 30, 2018 by Anool Mahidharia 8 Comments

The typical hacker can never say no to more tools. And when it comes to clamps, one just can’t have enough of them. From holding small PCB’s to clamping together large sheets of plywood, you need a variety of sizes and quantities. So it would be pretty neat if we could just 3D print them whenever needed. [Mgx3d] has done that by designing 3D printable bar clamp jaws with a quick release mechanism that can be used with standard T-slot aluminum extrusion. This allows you to create ad-hoc bar clamps of any size and length quickly.

The design consists of two pieces – the jaw and its quick release lever, and does not require any additional parts or fasteners for assembly. Both pieces can be easily 3D printed without supports. The quick release lever is a simple eccentric cam design which locks the jaw in place by pushing down on the extrusion. The design is parametric and can be easily customized for different sizes, either in OpenSCAD or via the online customizer. The online customizer supports Misumi 15 mm and 20 mm extrusion, 1″ 1010-S and 20 mm 20-2020 from 80/20 Inc., 15 mm from OpenBeam and 10 mm from MicroRax. But it ought to be easy to create fresh designs in OpenSCAD. Check out the video after the break to see the bar-clamps in action.

If you’d like to start equipping your shop with more 3D printed tools, look no further. We’ve featured many types over the years, such as the StickVise and its Gooseneck System, this 3D printed rubber band PCB Vise, and even a 3D printed Mini-Lathe.

Continue reading “Universal Quick-Release Bar Clamps” →